Institute for Justice

February 2012, Volume 21, Number 1

February 2012, Volume 21, Number 1

By Jeff Rowes On December 1, 2011, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals handed down an important decision in favor of IJ and its clients that may mean the difference between life and death for those suffering from deadly blood diseases. The court held that the U.S. Attorney General could not lawfully apply the…

By Bert Gall IJ has scored yet another big win for school choice in the Hoosier State. This past July, IJ joined Indiana in defending the state’s new Choice Scholarship Program—which allows low- and middle-income families to obtain publicly funded scholarships that they may use to attend private schools or public schools outside of their…

By Dana Barliner On December 28, 2011, the Minnesota Supreme Court handed down an important victory for Red Wing property owners and renters, and for citizens across the state of Minnesota. The court allowed a property rights case to go forward that had been tied up by procedural wrangling for more than five years. The…

By William R. Maurer Call it a twofold win that will both advance government transparency and help fight eminent domain abuse. On November 10, 2011, the San Diego Superior Court issued an order temporarily enjoining National City from using changes to its main land-use documents as the basis for a finding of blight. The changes…

By Matt Miller I was not required to get a license from the government to write this story. Indeed, if the government attempted to require such a license, I would have swift redress under the First Amendment. But if I were to walk around New Orleans and talk about the Crescent City to tourists, the…

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By Steve Simpson The Institute for Justice won an important victory for free speech on November 3, 2011, when we secured a preliminary injunction against Arizona campaign finance laws that prevented Dina Galassini, a resident of Fountain Hills, Ariz., from holding a peaceful protest against a town bond issue. In early October, Dina sent an…

Maffucci Fellows work with IJ’s activism and coalitions team as we fight for economic liberty, private property rights, school choice and free speech at the grassroots. Fellows assist with a variety of projects, including: • Exciting research • Cutting-edge legislative initiatives • Coalition building • Rallies, workshops and community town halls Thanks to the generosity…

By Katelynn McBride Crushing property rights sometimes seems like a government pastime. Winona, a river town in southeastern Minnesota, is the latest offender with its destructive ban on renting out homes. In Winona, only 30 percent of homes on a given block may receive a government-issued license entitling the owner to rent them out. As…

By Erika Pfleger Politicians promise to create jobs, but instead they keep piling on burdensome regulations. IJ Clinic client Kentech Consulting could show them a thing or two about how jobs are really created. Kenneth Coats founded Kentech in 2007 in response to a problem he observed in his community: People—especially young adults—were struggling to…

By Lisa Knepper As regular readers of Liberty & Law know, seldom does a new school choice program go unchallenged in court. Indeed even the proposal of a program will be met with cries that expanding educational choice to include private and religious schools is unconstitutional. In a series of reports dating to the earliest…

Lisa Martinez is an entrepreneur from Ledyard, Conn. Looking for a job that would let her be her own boss and give her a flexible schedule to spend time with her young children, Lisa opened up a teeth-whitening boutique in a shopping mall. There she sold an over-the-counter teeth-whitening product and instructed her customers on…

It has been 10 years since IJ announced that the cavalry was coming to Arizona in the form of the Institute for Justice’s first-ever state chapter—an institution that would be dedicated to vindicating the rights of Arizonans under the Arizona and federal constitutions. Ever since the chapter opened its doors in October 2001, it has…

The Institute for Justice is accepting applications for IJ’s 2012 annual Law Student Conference. The conference will be held June 22-24, 2012, at the George Washington University in downtown Washington, D.C. Each year the Institute for Justice brings 40 top law students to our nation’s capital to learn how to use law as a force…